Free At Last!!

Well, it has been almost 6 weeks since Gunner cut his leg on the hay ring, and after treating the leg this morning, we made the descision to turn him back out on the big pasture with Dior, our 19 year old quarter horse gelding. The leg still has some healing to do, but we feel like it has been long enough for him to be confined to the small paddock. The best news is he is definately not lame on the leg, but we think he may have a hump on the leg for a long time if not forever, since the muscle was cut so severely. We are rubbing it down daily and applying linament, so only time will tell if the dent in the muscle will stay or gradually go away. My main concern is to be sure he is not in pain, and to make sure he will be comfortable under saddle....the scars or cosmetic issues do not bother me....he will be with us  forever, I just want him to be sound and pain free.  I will try to get close up pics of the leg in a few days.

Dior was Gunner's "mother" when we weaned him, and he is quite attached to Dior, so he was beside himself when we turned them back in together!  We thought today would be perfect....the weather is so nice, it is sunny and warm....we are supposed to get up to 60 DEGREES today (and NO RAIN)!!!   I got my camera ready, because we knew there would be alot of bucking, running, and farting when we turned these two back in together...and they did not disappoint!

Of course, the first thing Gunner did was find the dirtiest, muddiest spot in the pasture and roll, so he was covered in a layer of black mud/soil.......but he was so happy, he didn't care and neither did I.....

Then he realized, hey, I can run wide open now, so here he went........(by the way, I didn't know how hard it is to take a picture of a horse running and get their whole body in the picture, LOL).....

Here he has stopped to watch as Terry turned Dior in with him after he got some of the running out of his system............

Then we turned Dior in....and the real fun began....;')................

Dior will be 19 next month, although he doesn't look or act it....he still loves to buck, kick, and carry on, and most of the time he acts younger than Gunner who is just coming a 5 year old............

Here he finally stopped to rest and gave me that "what?" look, LOL...........

Well, I am off for now, I am going back out to enjoy this beautiful day, I think we may take the mules out for a ride in the wagon later......we may not have too many more nice days for a few weeks, hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

~~DEANNA~~

Do You See What I See?

The sun! The sun! It has literally been a few weeks since we have seen the sun here....we have had above normal rain and snow and I have never been so glad to see the sun! It is still a muddy mess, especially around the barn and the turn out paddocks, and it will takes weeks to dry out, LOL. I snapped this picture of Woody laying by the window soaking it in this afternoon....

Well, since the water hose has thawed out from the last couple days, I'm off to clean and refill water troughs with fresh water for everyone.....hopefully, I'll be back in a few days with something to talk about other than the weather!

~~~~DEANNA~~~~

Yuck......Spring, hurry up!!!!

I am so ready for spring and drier weather! We have had so much rain and snow this winter, and our paddocks and pastures are a yucky mess. The 5 inches of snow we had last weekend is really melting now, and this is what it leaves us with to wade through...lovely.....

That's mine and Gunner's feet when I went out to feed this morning.....I know he needs his feet done, but we have been waiting for his leg to heal more before putting the extra stress on him.  His leg is healing very well, and he is not lame at all on it, so Terry is planning on pulling his shoes and trimming him this weekend.

Sonny and Mr.T eating breakfast this morning in their run in shelter....Sonny is the one looking over his shoulder. He decided he didn't like the camera flash at all, and he kept an eye on me while eating. So, I decided to take picture after picture until he settled down. I would take a picture and he would snort, turn and run out of the shelter, then walk back in and eat. We repeated this about 10 times until he finally didn't spook any more.  He will be 16 this spring, and is a joy to ride. He is sometimes a little nervous around new things on the ground, but once you put that halter on him, he is a completely different horse. He is very willing, responsive, and you can take him anywhere and ride him with no problems. My daughter has shown him in 4-H, team penning, rode him in parades, you can rope off him, anything.  He has never ever bucked, kicked, or been disrespectful in any way, but we just know his little quirks and how to handle him.

 

 He had a sarcoid tumor the size of a golfball in his left eyelid two years ago, and we thought we may have to remove his eye, but thanks to the Veterinary team at UT Knoxville and our local vet, he completely recovered, the tumor is gone, and you can't even tell there was anything there by looking at his eye. Sonny will be with us forever....I would never trust anyone else with this horse....he could very easily be misunderstood, and therefore be mistreated, so he will die on our farm.......

Here he has turned sideways while eating to keep an eye on me since I had the camera, normally he could care less if I was literally hanging off of him while eating, but that's Sonny for ya, though........Notice Mr. T never even looked up the whole time....that's how he is, nothing bothers him...wonderful horse..   :^)

I also dumped everyone's water this morning, and cleaned the troughs out. It had been awhile and they were pretty yucky, so it took me a good 1 1/2 hours to dump, clean, and refill them all up. I snapped some pictures of the mules while I was waiting for their water to fill. This is Billy getting a drink, while John Boy watches the new mules who were turned out in the riding arena this morning.......

Here, he is seriously thinking about pulling the water hose out of the trough, so I have to watch and make sure he doesn't....there's nothing worse than thinking the water is full only to go back and see that they have pulled the hose out and it is all on the ground...ugh!

Here is a picture of my garlic poking up through the snow.....this is my first time growing garlic, so I hope it makes it through the winter, and I have nice, big bulbs of garlic about May or June.......

Have a great day everyone!

A Wagon Ride In The Snow....

Terry decided to hook up the new mules today and take them for a spin to see how well trained they are, and they did not disappoint. He and his brother took them out, and they both agreed that they were very well trained to the wagon, and knew their stuff. I have never driven the mules before, but Terry said even I could drive these guys they are so easy, so I will have to try them out sometime (with Terry with me of course, LOL.) Here are a few pictures of the day......

Gettin' ready to go.........

Comin' back up to the barn............

Restin' for a minute........

Backing the wagon into the barn, with Jack and Dan lookin' on over the

 fence, hoping they aren't next, LOL.............

Jack and Dan watching from the pasture........

Sunday Morning Sunrise....

I was actually up this morning in time to catch the sun peeking through the trees. The light was a beautiful golden orange so I grabbed the camera real quick, I know it wouldn't last long.  Of course Dior and Gunner had to stop and look to see what I was doing, LOL......

Hope everyone has a great Sunday Morning!

~DEANNA~

Snow, and a new pair of Mules.....

Hi everyone, I've not posted in over a week, and the only thing new around here is the snow and we got a new pair of mules yesterday. We have about 4-5 inches of snow on the ground which is a lot for around here. I got out this morning and let Greta run and play ball in the snow...she loves it! We also snapped a couple pics of the new boys. I think we are gonna brave the roads and run to town to pick up a few things, and I'll probably take Greta out to play again when we get back.

Greta in the snow this morning........

The new "boys" settling in to their new home...................

John Boy stretchin' over the gate to get a better look at the new pair of mules.......

Dior after rolling in the snow all morning....he loves it, and he seems fine without a blanket, so we don't put one on him very often. He has snow and ice all over him, so he is keeping his body heat in good. We always make sure all our horses and mules have unlimited amounts of hay in the winter to keep their body temps up, it really is the best thing you can do to help them generate more body heat in the cold weather.  I just watch them and make sure they don't start shivering or showing signs of being really cold............

Mr T. coming up to the gate to check out the new guys................

That's all for now, everyone have a great weekend, and stay warm!!!!!!

Nothin' new going on, just some pictures...

Well, there's really nothing new and exciting to write about, so I just thought I would post some pics I took yesterday while outside doing the chores. The weather has been really warm, and the dogs have  enjoyed getting outside more and playing (between the downpours).......

Greta doing her favorite thing...finding a stick to chew on.........

Ralphie on top of the barn looking down at me.........

Gunner in the paddock up by the barn recovering from his leg injury....notice the lovely muddy coat, we have had lots of rain the past few days.... : -(

Gunner getting up close and personal..................

And of course, it rained nearly all day here, so I caught Greta looking out the window watching it rain...she will do this for hours when it is raining........

And of course Ruby Jane...taking it nap, cause there was nothing else to do today.... ( I know, I know, she is a little chubby....we are working on that.......)

That's about it, I'll be back later with more of nothing to write about, LOL.......